When it's time to leave

On Monday night I went to the Microsoft IE 9 Launch Party.  They rented out the Austin City Limits Moody Theater in Austin, TX.  There were three bands, an open bar, and hundreds of people.  I caught the whole set for Head and Heart, and they are definitely worth checking out.  But that's not what this post is about.

After a few drinks over several hours, I looked around, feeling rather pleasant, and decided it was time to leave. It was a pleasant evening.

But I've come to realize there is a point at an event, especially one with lots of inebriated people, from which the evening can only stay the same, or go down hill.  That doesn't mean I expected trouble -- just that I looked around and realized I wasn't going to get any more out of the event.

Many years ago, I would have waited to see the actual decline every party ultimately goes through, but now...I have no need to witness that. 

I'm sure everyone else there continued to enjoy the event. But I knew that for me, nothing good would come of staying.  Perhaps nothing bad, but nothing good.